One Fallen Angel
by NiGHTChild68
Summary: For as long as I can remember I grew up as a Cruxis Angel. My father and I work for Lord Yggdrasil and I was raised to obey and follow him, but as I guide the Chosen on her Journey, I'm beginning to doubt my upbrining. Cruxis Lloyd fic
1. Chapter 1

Hey, well this it my first Tales of Symphonia fic and I hope that you all like it and I don't mess up or anything. :). Anyhow it's a Cruxis Lloyd story, and it was inspired by another type of story like this that was done by **_The Sage of Spirits._** I don't remember the story though, sorry. Anyhow I hope everyone likes it.

_**Chapter One: Orders **_

_Welgaia_

The city of the Angels was dull, boring, and lifeless. Despite the fact that it was populated by Angels it felt a lot more desolate than a desert. The lifeless beings always floated around hapless, either talking about the latest news of the two worlds – which wasn't really news as it was information that one of the Seraphim had already mentioned – or just mindlessly floating around. Having lived in this world for almost all of his life, one would think he'd be used to it.

However Lloyd Irving Aurion had grown up in the environment all his life, and he found the isolation insanity inducing. The brown haired seventeen year old stared up at the Angels with his red eyes; they were so boring and lifeless sometimes he wondered why they didn't die of boredom. Then he'd remember that they had Cruxis Crystals and then wonder how come he had not died of boredom in this place. The answer to that brought him back to his father, Kratos. When Kratos was not away on business for Lord Yggdrasil he taught Lloyd how to use a sword and magic. Most of the lessons now concentrated on magic because once Lloyd decided to fight with two swords instead of one, he found he had very little to teach him past the basics. Lloyd had chosen to fight with two swords because when he was younger he believed that two swords had twice the power of one. His father had told him it was logic only his mother would understand.

Kratos had often told Lloyd that his train of thought reminded him of Anna, his wife and Lloyd mom. The teenager believed him, the stories were all he had of his mother. Kratos had told him that his mother died when her Exsphere was forcibly removed from her body and she turned into a monster. He never told Lloyd about what happened after she was transformed into a monster, but he had a pretty good idea that what happened was Kratos' motivation to raise Lloyd in Welgaia.

Even though Lloyd couldn't remember what his mom was like he knew what she looked like. Kratos had a locket that had their picture in it. Her hair and eyes were brown, like his, or his eyes used to be brown, but when he completed the Angel Transformation they had turned red. Enhanced sight, hearing, and the ability to use magic in exchange for losing the need to eat, sleep, or sense touch. It was worth it in the end, because it also meant he had wings, long blue wings that became white at the ends and were like an eagles. They were always out unless he was one of the two worlds or 'resting'.

"Lloyd." The boy looked up hearing his name being spoken and saw his father waiting for him on the other side of the room. Like Lloyd his wings were out, they were the same color but where more like wings from a moth or – dare he say it – butterfly. He was dressed in silver and blue armor, Lloyd wore the same design but it was much looser on him, the seventeen year old hadn't finished growing yet. Seeing his father perked the boy up and he got up running over to give his father a hug. The two were very close, and without any other children to play with he grew up mostly with just his father and uncle around.

"Come with me Lloyd, Lord Yggdrasil has summoned us."

The teenagers red eyes widened hearing the word 'us' and not 'me'. "L-Lord Yggdrasil wants to see me?" He hadn't seen Yggdrasil the Angel Lord had given him his Cruxis Crystal when he was seven. "Why?"

"Coming soon is the day of Prophecy, the Chosen of Sylvarant will receive the Oracle and begin their journey."

"Sylvarant Chosen…Zelos right?" The brunette stopped to correct himself, "No wait, Sylvarant's Chosen is Colette, Zelos is from Tethe'alla. Wait, what does the Oracle have to do with Yggdrasil seeing me?"

"I assume he's considering you accompanying the Chosen for the Journey."

"Seriously?" He couldn't believe it, "Why? I thought he didn't want me in Sylvarant." He remembered Kratos telling him that a long time ago, he never knew why because he never got an answer. He smiled and nodded and forgot about it. Despite not being able to go to Sylvarant he had gone to Tethe'alla a few times with his father starting from when he was thirteen onward. His favorite place there was the snowy Flanoir, he had loved the cold weather – until he had stopped feeling – and the people there were a lot nicer than anyone else. He had also, at least once met the Chosen of Tethe'alla. He had…tried to teach Lloyd things that resulted in his father having to explain a lot of stuff to the young boy that made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Hey dad, why did you have to go to Tethe'alla anyway? Was Zelos shirking his duties again?" He asked as the rode along the moving walkway.

"You could say that…" Anything that leads to a talk about Zelos always made Kratos uncomfortable. Unfortunately for him, Lloyd and Zelos got along very well with the Tethe'alla chosen seeming to take the younger under his wing like an older brother. Even Kratos had to admit though that Zelos was a decent role model, minus his perverted attitude. He could live without that rubbing off on Lloyd.

"Why does Lord Yggdrasil need Zelos to do his job anyway? It's not like the church of Martel will fall apart if he doesn't. And when the Sylvarant Chosen succeeds, Tethe'alla's oracle won't appear for another four hundred years anyway."

"True, but Yggdrasil needs the Mana lineage to stay clean. And Zelos likes playing around."

"Playing around?"

"…" Kratos kepping quiet told Lloyd that he was asking too many questions. When he was younger Lloyd would need to be told to stop asking questions and then complain, but now he had learned when he was stepping over his boundaries. "Anyhow sometimes Zelos needs to be reminded of where his loyalties are."

"Ah." By the time they finished the conversation they had already made it to the transporter. Kratos showed the Angel guarding it the proper identification and allowed them access to the castle. Lloyd did not have any kind of ID on him because he was never required to visit the Castle. As a result it was no surprise when they got there that his reaction was staring with his eyes wide at everything surrounding him with his hung open. Kratos gave a small smile seeing Lloyd act like that, disrespectful as it was in their lords chambers; it reminded him that Lloyd was still a curious teenager. A curious teenager that was an Angel, but a teenager nonetheless.

The two walked forward as another person walked out, another angel by the name of Yuan, wearing his long black cape over white pants and some light armor. One thing Lloyd found odd was that unlike many 

of the other angels that had red eyes, Yuan's eyes were a dark green color. Kratos had informed him that not all angels, or at least half-elf angels, lose their natural eye color when they go through the transformation. Lloyd naturally believed him because he saw several Angels that had either turquoise or gold eyes. Yuan was the first to speak to them as they got closer, "Kratos, Lloyd."

"Yuan."

"Hey Uncle."

"Don't call me that." Lloyd had to resist the urge to snicker; ever since he was young he referred to Yuan as his Uncle. The man didn't pay it much mind back then, but now he seemed to be annoyed by it. Naturally for Lloyd this encouraged him to call him it more and the half-elf turned angel hadn't made the connection yet. "So Yggdrasil wants to see you, Lloyd?"

"Yeah, not sure why but if it means leaving Welgaia than I'll do anything."

"With the Oracle coming I assume he wants to make sure this Chosen succeeds in her mission."

"The last Chosen in Sylvarant failed their journey right?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes, the Renegades got to him after the second seal." Yuan clarified. "I'm assuming he's going to send Kratos to make sure that no harm comes to this one, even though he failed last time."

"We can't all have perfect records Yuan." Kratos spoke up, "What did Lord Yggdrasil want from you?"

"He wants me to keep tabs on the Renegades to prevent them reaching the Chosen." He told him, "With the death of the Sylvarants previous Chosen he's very concerned with Tethe'alla's over prosperity. Well good luck." Yuan walked past them not having anything else to say which prompted Kratos to continue to Yggdrasils chambers. Lloyd followed after him as his father instructed him to be respectful and obedient and look composed. The brunette nodded but felt nervous as he thought about it.

They reached Yggdrasil's chamber, the tall angel with his large pinkish-purple wings was waiting for them. If it weren't for the fact Lloyd learned quickly how powerful and intimidating Yggdrasil was, he'd be laughing at the fact his outfit, wing color and hairstyle made him look like a girl. Kratos knelt down bowing respectfully and Lloyd followed suit in a somewhat clumsy manner. The Angel nodded and motioned for them to stand back up. He turned his attention to Lloyd.

"Lloyd how has your training been progressing?" The boy was a little startled that the question was addressed to him, but tried to keep his composure.

"It is going very well, Lord Yggdrasil." He said, "My father has been instructing me in mid-level magic spells and the Angelic abilities. My swordsmanship has also progressed." He spoke slowly and carefully hoping that he picked the right words when addressing his leader.

Yggdrasil seemed satisfied enough with Lloyd's explanation, "Very well then. Kratos, I imagine you already know why I have called you here. It is time for Sylvarant's chosen to accept the Oracle. As always I want you to accompany the Chosen on their regeneration journey. However, I want you to take Lloyd along with you."

Somehow Kratos knew that this event would come and he saw that Lloyd was holding in his excitement. That wouldn't last once they got on the journey. "Introduce yourself as mercenaries, obviously you can still act as father and son, lying would only confuse people. Everything else you can decide on your own."

"Understood, Lord Yggdrasil."

"Then you're dismissed." Kratos and Lloyd left Yggdrasil's chamber and once out of sight Lloyd began to proclaim his excitement. Kratos however began thinking about the best method to make everything seem natural. He also needed to remind Lloyd that he couldn't use magic or his wings, or his most powerful attacks while protecting the Chosen.

He could already hear the teenage boys complaining and rubbed his temples, if imagining it gave him a headache he feared how Lloyd would sound once he actually told him.

_**End Chapter One**_

Well that ends the first chapter. I'd like to ask everyone that if they notice any grammar errors to please let me know and I'll try and correct them. Normally my friend proofreads my stuff first, but I needed to get this up so it would stop screaming in my head. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, I can't believe the response I got for the first chapter, thanks you all!

_**Chapter Two: Colette **_

_Welgaia_

Lloyd was in his room, looking through his closet, and trying to find an outfit that would look passable for a mercenary his age living in Sylvarant. It was hard for him to decide because he had never been to Sylvarant, however Kratos had showed him pictures of it by manipulating his magic – he had to learn how he did that – or taking pictures using a camera he got from Tethe'alla. From he'd seen, and been told, he had the idea that even the wealthiest person in Sylvarant was middleclass in Tethe'alla. His father had then reminded him that because of the lack of mana in the declining world there was almost no caste system.

After a while Lloyd picked out what he thought would be proper for his 'disguise', a pair of black pants with Brown overalls and a Red Shirt with a lot of buttons on it and red gloves to go with the shirt. The clothing was loose and would be suiting for any type of weather. He had an extra pair of sheaths that Kratos had given him that were the same color as well. Satisfied with the outfit he tossed the clothes and gloves onto a chair not bothering to worry about wrinkles and flopped onto his bed. Why he had a bed when he, or any angel for that matter, couldn't sleep was beyond him, but it was comfortable. Very comfortable and he liked to at least pretend he was asleep during those short 'resting' periods he required when he was low on energy.

The door opened startling him a little, but he relaxed when it was just his father, "Don't you ever knock?"

"Lloyd we should talk about our mission." Since Kratos didn't smirk or smile at Lloyd's remark the teenager knew his father was serious. Kratos looked at the clothes sprawled out on his son's chair, gently laid it on his desk then sat down facing his child. Lloyd looked at him a little confused. "Before we go on the journey with Sylvarant's chosen it's necessary that I tell you of some things you must keep in mind."

"Dad, don't worry about it, it'll be easy." The brunette teenager said with a smile on his face that made his read eyes slightly disturbing. "We meet the chosen, she gets the Oracle, we release the seals while keeping her and her guardians on the right path and when we get to the Tower of Salvation we betray the party – and I can't wait for that part – kill them all and bring the soulless body to Welgaia. Easy." Despite Lloyd's slightly dark chuckle at the mention of betraying the group his father kept a straight face alerting him of how serious the older man was. "What, you're not looking forward to seeing the looks on their face when we double cross them?"

"It's not that Lloyd." He told him even his son had pretty much read his thoughts; it was becoming cumbersome to have to kill the Chosen's guards. "However this will be your first time in Sylvarant, and unlike Tethe'alla things work differently there."

"How so?" Lloyd asked now fully listening.

"Well for one thing, Tethe'alla's advanced science has allowed the humans to start developing injections for them to use magic. It's still in the experimental stages but those that survive the change in their mana can use up to mid-level magic."

"Like Zelos."

"Yes, like Zelos." Was it really necessary to bring him up? "However Sylvarant lacks this kind of technology because of its shortage of mana, as such humans can't use magic."

"What?" Lloyd was afraid of where this was going.

"So Lloyd, as long as we are guarding the chosen you and eye cannot use our Magic, wings, or Angelic abilities."

"WHAT?" Kratos closed his eyes as Lloyd shouted in disbelief; yes this would certainly be worse than how he imagined it. "You've got to be kidding, I studied so hard to learn those spells and now you're telling me I can't use them?"

"In a way. You can use them again when you betray the Chosen's group."

"But not any other time? And I can't use my wings to fly either?" Kratos shook his head, "But if we went saying that we were Angels sent to protect the Chosen than we could, right?"

"Yes, but Lord Yggdrasil wants us to pose as father and son mercenaries. _Human _Mercenaries."

"But I want to be an Angel!"

"Lloyd." Kratos raised his voice to the boy giving him a warning look that he was stepping out of line. "We will go by Yggdrasil's orders and there will be no complaints, understand?"

The boy gave his father a defeated look and pouted crossing his arms like an immature child. "Fine." He knew the pouting wouldn't make his dad reconsider their Angel Lord's decision, but that didn't mean he still couldn't show his disappointment. "Anything else?"

"Actually yes, we need to discuss our plan of action." Lloyd nodded uncrossing his arms as he listened to his fathers idea.

_Isalia_

"Okay that's enough for today class; don't forget that tomorrow as per tradition we will be discussing the Kharlan War and Mithos the Hero to commemorate the Day of Prophecy." Raine told her students as the clock on the wall hit three-thirty PM. The half-elf teacher, with white hair and blue eyes, wearing orange and white robes with brown leggings underneath, watched as the students slowly filed out of the classroom. As they were walking out she called to one of them. "Colette, could you come here for a second?"

A girl about sixteen with blonde hair wearing a long white dress with blue pants and white boots turned around hearing her name, tripping over her feet and falling over in the process. The girl shook her head and stood back up. Despite the fall her big blue eyes didn't show any pain and she had a smile on her face. "Yes Ms. Raine?"

"Well, actually Genis why don't you tell her." The school teacher gestured to her little brother and who was wearing a bright blue t-shirt with matching colored shorts.

"Okay!" The twelve year old half-elf, though the whole village and Colette herself believed he and her sister were elves, ran over to his blonde friend. "Well since tomorrow's the Day of Prophecy and you'll be going on your journey, Raine and I thought we'd make dinner for you and your family."

"Really?" The girl sounded ecstatic.

"Yeah, we can have a picnic right outside by the small pond and just have fun."

"It does sound fun, I'll tell my parents right away. Uh, you'll be cooking right Genis?" She asked making the twelve year old beam.

"Of course I will. Who else would be cooking, Raine?" _WHACK_! Genis' hands went to the top of his head as his sister hit him hard. "Ow…"

"Colette, you and your family should come by around six, we'll have everything ready by then."

"Okay!" The girl turned around ,more carefully this time, and ran out of the room. When she was gone Raine gave her little brother a glare.

"I thought I told you not to insult my cooking."

"But I didn't."

"You implied an insult."

"Raine..."

Six o'clock came around quickly for the two half-elf siblings as they prepared for Colette's father and Grandmother to come over. While Genis did the cooking, Raine set places on the bench outside for the five of them. As a result she was the first to notice when Colette came over with her family. Despite Grandma Phaidra saying that the two half-elve's gesture wasn't necessary, especially after Raine replaced her as teacher they, insisted.

As the adults discussed the matters in the world, including the Mana shortage and the rumors of a military to combat the Desians rising in Palmacosta, Colette and Genis played with the friendly stray dog that loved Genis' cooking. If it weren't for the fact that everyone in the village knew the animal was a stray, everyone would have thought the Sage siblings owned the animal. Colette fell over again, this time walking forward and the dog went up and licked her face when she looked up at it. "Hehe. You're a good dog Poochy."

"I can't believe you gave him a name…" Genis gave a dismayed look, Colette had named all the doges in the village before anyone else had the chance to, and she had each name memorized. Colette sat back up and looked up at the sky; it was getting dark early that day, which was another sign of the day of Prophecy coming. "So tomorrow's the big day huh?"

"Yup, tomorrow I receive the Cruxis Crystal I was born with and begin the Journey of Regeneration." She said looking up at the sky. "Hey I think that looks like a doggy."

"That's a part of Fenrir, Colette." Genis corrected her. He watched her friend giggle and nod moving her finger around to try and find the rest of the constellation. "Hey Colette, are you scared of going on the Regeneration?"

"Um…" The girl didn't answer right away, but after giving it some thought finally said, "Well I read Spiritua's Journey and from what I know it will be a little scary, but knowing that I'll be saving everyone makes me feel better. Everyone is counting on me to bring the mana back to the world and I can't let them down."

"But doesn't that scare you?"

"A little…" The blonde girl confessed as she continued to look at the stars, "It's a lot of pressure and when I think about it a lot it makes my stomach twist in knots, but" she paused to look at Genis, "I know that when the mana comes back to Sylvarant than everyone will be happy. When I think about it like that, then I'm okay." She smiled at him without any sadness which made Genis feel a little better.

"Well, when you become an Angel and move to Derris-Kharlan, you'll come back and visit once and awhile right?" To his disappointment Colette's smile faded somewhat and she looked back at the clear sky. The stars looked like they were sparkling in excitement that the day the world would be regenerated was coming.

"Yeah, I'll visit you." She said in a somewhat bittersweet tone. As the two looked at the stars the adults watched the two. Raine, having heard the entire conversation, looked sadly at Genis and then at Colette. The blonde girl would have a long journey ahead of her once the oracle came and she'd be saying good-bye to all her friends and the village. Colette was such a sweet girl, why did she have to be born as the Chosen of Mana?

_**End Chapter Two**_

I hate writing second chapters to stories and I think they hate me back. Anyhow I plan to update once a week as I have a good idea of how this is going to go, which hopefully will stay consistant when College begins in about...3 weeks. Yikes! Well thanks everyone for reading and reviewing. Chapter Three will bring us to the start of Colette's Journey/Lloyd and Kratos' mission.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three: Meeting Up**_

_Isalia_

The morning class felt like it was going on for longer than usual for Colette. Even though she tried to keep herself calm and composed on the outside on the inside she felt like a nervous wreck. That morning her natural clumsiness had caused her to fall down the stairs and now she had a large bruise forming on her arms. Thankfully the long sleeves of her dress covered her arms, but it hurt to move them when writing. Fortunately the only class she needed to do a lot of writing, or drawing, in was that morning's art class. She kept quiet about her accident during then because it was nothing for anyone to worry over; she was naturally clumsy, she did make a body sized hole in the wall while sweeping the classroom a few weeks ago.

"Mithos the Hero, brought about the end of the Ancient War, in the Holy Ground of Kharlan." She heard Genis answer one of Raine's questions, but wasn't really paying attention to the following explanation that their teacher was giving on the history of Sylvarant. Her eyes wandered around the classroom to the students who were paying attention and then finally to the window. The trees outside blocked out the Martel Temple where her Cruxis Crystal and the priests were waiting for her. How much longer until the time came for her to recieve it?

"Now Chosen One, Colette." Raine calling her brought her back to the classroom. She stood up smiling and acting like she had been listening.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Tell us about the journey of World Regeneration."

That was an easy question, the priest had taught her about it repeatedly since she could walk. "It is a Journey to seal the Desians." She said, "Upon passing the trials of the Goddess Martel, the Summon Spirits that protect the world awaken, and Mana is restored." She received praises from the teacher and sat back down. 'I suppose we should expect the chosen to know that one' is what Raine said before explaining the effects of mana shortage and repeating the blonde girls answer in a shorter version to the rest of the class. Even though she loved Professor Sage very much, the praise and unconscious expectations made her feel like the black sheep of the classroom. She stood out in the village even though she wanted to fit in.

Before Raine could ask her next question a bright flash of light came from the Martel Temple. Colette knew what it was and sat in her seat patiently as the rest of the students gathered by the window staring in awe at the bright light reaching up to the heavens. "Everyone calm down, it's time for the Oracle." She told them, "Colette come with me, the rest of you stay here and study on your own."

The blonde girl nodded and got out of her seat following Raine out of the classroom, but she stopped for a second looking back at Genis in the classroom. "Uh, Professor, could Genis come too? I'd feel more confident if I had a freind with me."

"All right go get him, I'll be waiting outside." Truth be told she was reluctant to let her little brother join them, but it helped Colette, then she'd let him come. Who knows, maybe the pressure from the trials could help hiim with his magic.

_Ourskits of Isalia_

The large pillar of light rising into the clouds was not unnoticed by those who were close to Isalia. Lloyd looked up at the sky dressed in his 'mercenary outfit' watching as the pillar slowly faded. The Chosen would now receive her Cruxis Crystal from one of Lord Yggdrasil's angels, and he needed to get to the village before she left on her journey. He walked along the road, monsters ignoring him, and recalled in his head the rest of the conversation he had had with his father on Welgaia:

"_I want you to go to the Isalia where the Chosen lives; if possible I want you to assist her in receiving her Cruxis Crystal." Kratos told him._

"_Isalia…" He looked up at the map of Sylvarant on his wall; the place was labeled next to the location of Forcystus' Human Ranch. The village was the only one to have a non-aggression treaty with the Desians. If he remembered right it was to protect the Chosen. __"Right, if I help her with the Temple's Trial than it'll be easier to gain the trust of her and the rest of her guards."_

"_Very good Lloyd. And I'm sure you can make up some kind of excuse for your presence, right?"_

"_Of course I can, you know how good of a liar I can be." Unfortunately Kratos did know how good Lloyd was at lying since the boy fooled even him on occasion. "Hey if I'm going to meet the Chosen in her home town, when are you going to join us?"_

"_Most likely Thoda Geyser or the Balacruf Mausoleum."_

"_Thoda Geyser or the Balacruf Mausoleum? Why not just pick one or the other now?" The teenager repeated, a little taken back that his father wouldn't give him a definite answer. Sure they were both seals, but why not give a guaranteed location?_

"_I have some things to take care of beforehand, but I can assure you I will be in one of those two locations." Lloyd was about to speak up again but Kratos cut him off, "Please don't ask what I'm doing, they're private matters. I'll tell you about it at another time, I promise Lloyd." Kratos was thankful when his son stayed quiet and simply nodded not asking any other questions._

Lloyd had left Derris-Kharlan and descended onto the declining world early that morning. He doubted the Oracle would appear so early, but knew that when he got close to Isalia he'd have to say good-bye to his wings, magic and angel abilities for an undetermined period of time. With Sylvarant's simple landscape he was hoping it wouldn't be more than a few months, but wanted to savor the remaining moments of being able to fly and shoot fireballs and lightning. He thought he heard some humans screaming when he carelessly cast a lightning spell over a large brown mountain close to where the Tower of Salvation would appear.

After a short while he landed about a mile or so from Isalia and started walking from there to the village. It was during that time the light appeared signalling it was time for the Chosen to retrieve her Crystal. It only took a few more minutes for him to get to the village; to his surprise he saw two soldiers on the ground. "Huh?" He ran over and kneeled down by one of them, "Hey, what happened here?"

"Desian's…broke the treaty." The man managed to lift himself up a little, "They're on their way to the Temple."

Lloyd quickly broke into a run straight to the church. He knew Forcystus wouldn't break the treaty signed with the village; unlike the other Grand Cardinals he actually had some pride. He reached the rock stairs leading to the temple hearing various noises, from weapons clashing to spells being cast coming from the top. He ran up to see two kids and an older woman collapsed on the ground exhausted in front of a large warrior wielding a spiked ball and chain. From his size and mana signature Lloyd could tell the man was human, which meant these weren't the Desians.

"Renegades…" He mumbled under his breath; of all the times to run into them it had to be here. He saw the man swing his powerful weapon and reacted; jumping in front of the blonde girl he was about to hit and using one of his swords to parry the attack. The tall man stumbled back in surprise and Lloyd drew his second sword. He sneered; this guy would be too easy even if he had to hold back. He rushed forward so fast the man didn't have a chance to react and brought his sword down on the man's arm. The man gave a loud cry as he dropped down in pain; Lloyd then crossed his swords in front of the guy's neck. It was too easy, just like he thought.

"Wait." Lloyd looked away from his victim to another man with brown hair and in robes specifically designed for battle - the second in command of the Renagades, Botta. "We'll leave, just let him live."

Lloyd kept the glare on his face as he watched Botta out of the corner of his eye before shifting gaze to the soldier in front of him. He looked terrified for his life with Lloyd's twin swords only centimeters from his vulnerable neck, pathetic really. Though tempted to finish the job, the angel swordsman slowly moved his swords away and took some steps back. "You heard him, leave. Now!" He watched as two other renegade soldiers helped the man away before turning to Botta, "You're lucky I'm in a good mood."

"Indeed…" As the half-elf retreated Lloyd had hunch Botta hadn't expected him to come here so early, normally Kratos turned up after the Chosen began their Journey. He turned around and looked at the three in front of him.

"Everyone okay?"

"Yes, thank you." The older woman with silver hair said.

"That was amazing." The younger silver haired boy said, now that Lloyd got a good look at the two he could tell they were related. He could also tell form their mana that they were both half-elves and they could probably tell that that he wasn't a normal human. Not good. "You're so strong, you broke that guys arm with one sword swing."

"Uh, it was nothing really." He said trying to sound as humble as possible. "I heard Desians had gone to the temple and when I got here saw you guys in trouble. It's no big deal."

"Yes it is." Lloyd looked behind him and was surprised to find an old woman in clothes of a priestess walk over to him, "Not only have you saved these two elves," so they masqueraded as elves, "but you saved the Chosen."

"What really?" He said turning his attention to the three again. The blonde girl had a happy look on her face, smiling with her eyes closed.

"Yup, that's me." She said giving a quick bow, her hair falling into her face as she rose back up, "Thank you so much for saving my friends." Lloyd looked her over a little surprised; he had thought the Chosen's of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla would be near the same age, but this girl couldn't be older than sixteen. "Is something wrong?" She seemed to have noticed the look on his face, "Oh I know we never properly introduced ourselves. My name's Colette and this is my best friend Genis and my teacher Raine Sage. They're brother and sister."

"I'm Lloyd, a mercenary." He said simply than gave a chuckle as he started weaving his lie, "I came here because I saw the Oracle and wanted to meet the Chosen, but I never thought I'd actually be saving her." Colette giggled for a reason that Lloyd couldn't understand; she somehow found that funny.

"Well Lloyd, you certainly came at the right time." The old woman spoke up again, "The priests who were supposed to help Colette in her trial were killed by the Desians. It would be an honor to have you guide her through the temple."

Lloyd did not speak at first pretending to consider the situation then finally answered, "I assume I'll get some kind of payment for this."

"Of course."

"Then I'll do it." He said turning to Colette, "Come on chosen let's go."

"Okay." The girl said just as happy as she was the last time she spoke. The blonde seemed to be a giant waterfall of happiness, it made him feel queasy.

"We'll be guiding her through as well." Raine told him, "Colette wants Genis with her for support and I have assisted the Pheidra and the rest of the church many times. I trust you have no problem with that?"

Lloyd looked at Raine and saw she had a look in her eye that gave him the idea that she did not completely trust him. '_Guess I'd better be careful of this one' _"I have no problems with it as long as you two don't slow us down."

With Pheidra's blessing the four entered the Martel Temple; so far everything was going as he expected.

Just as planned.

_**End Chapter Three**_

Maybe it's just because I'm in a Sonic mood, but whenever I hear 'Chosen One' I think of the song from the _Shadow the Hedgehog_ game. Pretty good song actually. Maybe I should do an Tales AMV with it after I do my Sonic videos. Why am I talking about Sonic in a Tales fanfic? No idea :S


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four: First Impressions**_

_Iselia: Martel Temple_

"Wow, it turned into a rock."

"…It already was a rock." Lloyd told her, watching as she looked back at the cube shaped boulder. Her face turned red and she gave an embarrassed giggle.

"Oh, you're right. I'm Sorry."

Lloyd couldn't believe what he was hearing; sure when he came to Iselia he was expecting the Chosen to be a little ignorant, but he was not expecting her to be a complete idiot. The whole group was weird actually; ever since they had gotten into the Temple Raine seemed to act like an obsessive archeologist and Genis…actually out of all of them Genis seemed to be the most normal. He had shown embarrassment at his sisters excitement when her theory of another Golem monster appearing was correct.

"So this is the Sorcerers Ring." He heard Raine say as he picked the small red item off the pedestal. "This ring has been a part of the church since its establishment. May I?" Lloyd noticed a strange spark in her eye and handed her the ring. She examined it in her hand her eyes widening. "Wondrous, the material this ring was made of is capable of manipulating the mana in the air around it. Oh just feel it, even after all these centuries there isn't even a bit of rust. Marvelous!"

"Raine, we kinda need to go." He heard Genis say as though trying to get his sisters attention as politely as possible, as though afraid to say something in a ruder manner from fear of getting hurt.

"Very well." She gave the ring back to Lloyd, "However I wish to study that ring later, so give it to me once we're finished."

"Uh, yeah…sure." Lloyd was caught between asking why she was so obsessed with the ring and temple and just keeping quiet and pretending he never noticed. He chose the latter option as the four returned to the magic barrier that led to the top floor. Lloyd used the Sorcerer's Ring to send a small ball of fire through the barrier which hit the key behind it. When it unlocked he gave the ring to Colette, "Here, you're the one who should probably be doing this, not me."

"Oh, you're right I should be. Sorry." He brought his hand up to his head, almost slapping himself in the process. Why was this girl apologizing when she didn't do anything?

"You don't have to – never mind let's just go." The blonde girl nodded and they used the warp point to reach the top of the Temple. The room was almost the same as the rest of the temple, a round room that was a Golden brown color. The only difference was the large red altar in the middle of the room that had the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal. He leaned back against the wall spacing out as Genis and Colette discussed her Cruxis Crystal; the blonde girl telling him she was born with it in her hand.

"Look!" He heard Genis call out shaking back to the real world. It was a small sphere of light. He had to admit, he was rather curious which angel Lord Yggdrasil commanded to descend and guide the Chosen to each seal. He watched as the light flashed and in its place the angel hovered before them.

Lloyd had to resist the urge to yell when he recognized him. It was Remiel, one of the few angels on Derris-Kharlan that had some kind of personality. Unfortunately he had the personality of a cactus and was constantly kissing up to their angel lord. Maybe that's how he got the job.

"First head to the Seal of Fire, understood? My beloved daughter Colette." Now he was pretending to be the Chosen's dad; the arrogant angel was digging himself an early grave.

"I can't believe it, the rumor was true!" Genis said when Remiel left. Lloyd at first wanted to ask about the rumor, but then assumed it was about what Remiel had just said. It wasn't important to his mission anyway.

'"We're done here, so we should get going." Lloyd told them getting the three's attention.

"Oh yeah, let's go then." Colette nodded in agreement and they left the altar room.

"You three go on ahead, I'm going to stay here and study the temple some more. This place is simply amazing." The sparkle in her eyes told Lloyd that it would be a good idea to just leave her there. Genis seemed to be thinking a similar idea by the look on his face. "Lloyd you should see if you can escort the Chosen on her Journey, I mean if you don't have any other jobs to take care of."

He pretended to consider the offer then said, "Well I haven't done anything big for awhile. Okay, I'll do it." He saw Colette give a clap of excitement out of the corner of his eye.

"Great, now we can get to know each other better on the journey."

"Yeah…"

As the three walked back to Isalia, Lloyd noticed that Genis was staring at him, specifically at his Cruxis Crystal. He ignored him as they made it to Colette's house, but had a feeling the half-elf would ask about it later. When Lloyd gave his request to guide Colette on her regeneration journey, the mayor, as well as her father and grandmother were, very grateful and offered him a large sum of money. He gave an approving nod at the conditions of his payment.

"Then we'll leave the care of the Chosen to you and Raine."

"That's fine by me."

"I want to go too." Genis spoke up, "If Raine's going than I want to."

"No, absolutely -"

"Sure why not?" Lloyd cut off the mayor and got a few surprised looks from Colette and her family members, "He's a pretty good mage, I'm sure being on the road would do him good. I learned most of my skills by traveling." It wasn't completely true, but still close enough. His father was easier on him for swordsman ship; Yuan and Lord Yggdrasil were the exact opposite.

After persuading the mayor to let Genis come along, they said their good-byes to the family, and left the house so Colette could pack her things without any interruptions. Genis told her he would be bye later with a present for her. Apparently it was the Chosen's birthday; ironic that she'd need to start the journey that would lead to her death on the day that celebrated her birth.

"Hey Lloyd," Genis spoke up as they got closer to the house the two half elves lived in, "could you come outside the village with me?"

The angel gave him a questioning look "Why?" There weren't any nearby towns and the woods would be filled with monsters by now.

"I'm going to visit a friend; I want to tell her about the Oracle. She probably saw it, but she doesn't get many visitors anyway and want to say good-bye to her before we go."

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Alright, just hurry up and get anything you need." Genis ran inside leaving Lloyd to wait. The boy looked at what he guessed was a stray dog as it sat down next to him and sniffed his pants. He scratched the dog behind his ears absentmindedly, like he would with Noishe, until he came out and they left the village to the woods. They were quiet, but he could tell that there were monsters running about, hopefully they were just the weaker ones. "Lloyd, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"That gem on your hand; that's an exsphere right?"

Why did that feeling from earlier have to be right? "Yeah, what about it? You want one or something?"

"No, I just noticed it while in the temple and was wondering about it. That thing enhances your strength right?"

"Yeah," and do magic, fly and use Angelic Abilities, "I could jump from the top of that cliff over there and land on my feet without breaking a bone or anything."

"Wow!" The boy seemed to be fascinated by the exsphere and the abilities it granted to its user. He mused quietly to himself wondering how the boy would react if he found out how exspheres were made. He wouldn't be too impressed by them anymore. The two continued until they reached a spot where the path broke into two parts. "Well this is the place." He said walking down the path leading left to the Desian Ranch.

"The Desian Ranch?" He questioned, "I thought Isalia had a nonaggression with this Ranch."

"Well they already broke the treaty so it doesn't matter anymore right?" He argued, "Today may be the last time I see my friend. Besides, there's something I want to show you - it won't take long, only five minutes, I promise."

'_Idiot.'_ Was the thought that went through Lloyd's head as he listened to Genis. He knew Forcystus would not break a signed treaty, of course the half-elf boy didn't know that and while it was tempting to let him get caught, he would have to answer to the village if they got into any trouble and it would probably hurt his chances of guarding the Chosen. "Five minutes."

"Thanks." Quietly Lloyd followed Genis around the Ranch; he had to admit the boy knew how to get around any of the places guards might see him. He couldn't help but wonder how many times he'd been to the ranch to visit this friend of his. They waited behind the bushes for the guards to leave as they escorted some humans pushing boxes inside. Once gone Genis quietly moved out of the bushes.

"Marble." He called in a voice just loud enough to get an old womans attention.

"Genis!" She seemed happy to see him. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon, how've you been?"

"Fine, thanks. Marble did you see the Oracle?"

"Yes, I saw the Tower of Salvation, now the Chosen's Journey can finally begin."

"The last Chosen failed their Journey right?"

"Yes I heard the Chosen was killed by Desians during the Journey. Oh, who's this Genis? A friend of yours?" Lloyd felt the old woman's gaze fall on him as he smiled.

"This is Lloyd." Genis told her, "The Desian's attacked us at the Temple and he saved us. He's going to be traveling with the Chosen." Lloyd gave a small smile and nod as Genis told her that. He hoped this visit wouldn't be much longer.

"Well I wish you luck."

"Thanks."

"Marble, show Lloyd your hand, the one with the exsphere on it." The older woman did as Genis told and Lloyd looked at it pretending to be interested. "See, it's different from yours; it doesn't have the weird markings on it that yours does."

"Oh, you mean my Keycrest." The angel said, already having an idea where the conversation was going when the half-elf looked like he was going to ask what a keycrest did. "Exsphere's attached directly to a person's skin have negative side effects. To prevent them, inhibitor ore is used as a mount for the exsphere, and then a charm is carved onto it making it a keycrest."

"So you can't make a keycrest without any inhibitor ore?"

"Well you could, but it wouldn't work properly." He explained frowning, "Don't ask me to find any or and make her a keycrest. It's a Dwarvin art, only they know how to make them." The look Genis gave him looked pitiful, but he promptly perked up as he remembered something.

"There's a dwarf named Dirk that lives just north of here. He's really nice and helped build ourbhouse; we could ask him to make a keycrest."

Lloyd snorted, "I doubt a dwarf would make a keycrest for a Ranch prisoner."

"We don't have to tell him it's for a prisoner; we can make up a small white lie, like telling him it's for Raine or something. Please Lloyd."

The brown haired angel sighed, bringing his hand up to his head and shaking it. This kid wasn't going to give up even if he said no; he seemed too stubborn for his own good. "Alright fine, we can ask him." The half-elf looked happier, grinning from ear to ear despite Marble trying to assure them not to go through the trouble. He should be taking her advice.

"Hey old hag, what're you doing over there?" A voice of a guard got the three's attention; Lloyd cursed under his own breath, they'd stayed around too long.

"You two, hurry and get out of here."

"Okay, let's go Genis." The boy gave his friend an apologetic look before following him away from the Ranch. Unfortunately there were already guards waiting for them just outside. "Ugh, just what we needed. Genis, go and I'll catch up later."

"O-okay." He quickly ran off as Lloyd kept his focus on the guards, a smirk forming on the angel's face as he took out his twin swords. Seeing as they were only Whipmasters the fight should be very easy.

_**End Chapter Four**_

I'm not sure how you'd be surprised at a rock monster turning into a rock… Well that's chapter four, I'm gonna try to get one or two more up before September 5th, that's when I move into College. Also sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed, I wasn't really sure what direction I wanted to take it, I know exactly what to do next though :).


	5. Chapter 5

If Forcystus is ooc, I'm sorry. It's been awhile and there really isn't much to go by.

_**Chapter Five: Mother**_

_Iselia Ranch_

He made sure to just knock out the first two whip masters, but as more came he found himself slipping and killed a few of them. Finally, after stabbing probably his fifth victim in the stomach, he heard them being called off by the Desian Leader himself.

"Well Lloyd, it's certainly been awhile." It was Grand Cardinal Forcystus, the only Cardinal that Lloyd could stand and also possibly the strongest of them all. He could easily usurp Pronyma's power if he wanted to, though he seemed content with his position. Lloyd relaxed slightly, he had a hunch Forcystus wouldn't fight him; the half- elf knew he was no match for the angel anyway. Not only that but he seemed more interested in the teenagers 'work.' "Did you really have to kill them; it's very hard to get replacements to the Iselia Ranch."

"Couldn't help myself." Lloyd kept a smirk on his face as he watched Forcystus tapped one of the bodies with his foot.

"Well now that the treaty has been 'broken', I suppose I'd better plan retaliation. I trust you have no objections."

Lloyd shrugged nonchalant, "Do what you want." He paused before getting an idea, "Actually do you think you could wait until after we leave? Oh and can I get an exsphere for one of the Chosen's guards for the Regeneration Journey? I want this done as quickly as possible."

"Already missing your magic?" He sounded like he was teasing him and Lloyd gave a glare that told him that he didn't like it. "Very well, I will acknowledge you're requests and you'll have an exshpere in the morning. I assume anyone will do?"

"Actually, how about that old woman we were talking to." They seemed very close meaning that exsphere would be most effective on Genis than just an ordinary one. He'd never have to know it was her either.

"Anything else you need?"

"That'll do." He chuckled, "You know, with all this help you're giving me I should put in a good word for Lord Yggdrasil, maybe he'll make you leader of the Five Grand Cardinals."

"As amusing as it would be to see the look on Pronyma's face if that happened, I'm comfortable with my position here."

"Alright then." Lloyd sheathed his swords and started walking off, "Remember I'll be back in the morning."

It was easy for him to catch up with Genis; the boy was waiting for him near a log made bridge by a river. He looked relieved to see him. "Lloyd you're okay."

"Yeah, the Desian's weren't much trouble."

"Wow Lloyd, you're amazing."

"Yeah, yeah." He shrugged it off, "So lead the way."

"Right."

_Dirk's House_

It surprised him a little when he saw a two floor wooden house in the middle of the woods. The land looked like it had been cleared away before the house was constructed because of the tree stumps around the area, one of which worked as a makeshift bridge under a thin river. However the more he thought about it, the more understandable it was. Most Dwarfs were employed by Cruxis, those who weren't had to go into hiding and because they all lived underground, living on the surface in a wooden house were probably the last place anyone would look and therefore, the safest.

He followed Genis toward the house, the smaller boy running ahead of him, when his eyes got something further away. It looked like a rock of some kind. He walked over to it and noticed it wasn't a rock, but instead a grave stone. The grave stone didn't have any name on it, but it had some simple decorations carved on it and fresh flowers were resting beside the stone. He frowned slightly; dwarves did bury their dead, but if he remembered correctly they didn't have grave stones. Either this Dirk had developed human customs, or maybe…

"_Daddy?" The five year old boy tugged on one of the tails of his father's uniform. Over the two years the boy had adjusted pretty well to life in Welgaia, but Kratos was beginning to worry that the isolation would be harmful to his mental growth._

"_What is it Lloyd?" He looked down at the small boy from his desk, his eyes soft and a small smile on his face as he watched the child. The boy started to open his mouth then shut it to look at the door; he guessed he was checking to make sure no one was coming in. "No one is coming Lloyd, now what's on your mind?"_

_The small boy looked at him with large brown eyes that could make almost any person melt, "Uh, I've been thinking about mommy." Kratos smile faded and he looked sad, "I miss her."_

_Lloyd felt his father's hand come down onto his head and gently move through his hair. "I miss her too Lloyd."_

"_But you can still visit her, Mr. Yg-Yug…Mr. Leader won't let me go see her. Why?"_

"…"

"_Daddy?"_

"_Lord Yggdrasil just wants to protect you." His father said after a silence that felt painfully long for the small boy. He gentle touched the exsphere on the boys hand; one day it would become a Cruxis Crystal and Lloyd to would begin his angel transformation._

"_Kvar wants mommy's gem right?" Lloyd asked, Kratos nodded, "That's why he…he." _

"Paying yer respects to the dead are we?" Lloyd was rudely awakened from his daydream by the sound of an older man. He looked behind him to see Genis with a Dwarf, who he guessed was Dirk. "It's good to see some young ones like yerself still show respect for those who've passed on."

Lloyd wasn't really sure how to respond to the statement instead bringing his eyes back to the grave stone, "If you don't mind me asking, whose grave is this?"

"This grave is the resting place of a swordsman's wife." He started, "The poor girl was killed by the Desian's while they were on the run with their kid. Said her name was Anna."

'_Mom'_ unless it was a very ironic coincidence, than this had to be her resting place, he'd have to ask later on if anyone visited. He really didn't have much time to think about it as Dirk invited him and Genis inside the wooden house and asked what they needed. Lloyd came up with an explanation saying they needed a keycrest for Raine, saying that she found an exsphere outside the village which was probably dropped by the 'Desians' when they attacked the village. Dirk had a look of surprise hearing that news and agreed to make one. The two waited outside while he worked so they wouldn't disturb him.

"I hope it doesn't take too long to make that crest." Genis told him.

"Dad told me that it can take a few hours just for one crest," Lloyd told him; he was leaning lazily against the outside wall of the house. "The crest needs to be carved properly and apparently in a precise order, and that's if he doesn't need to process the inhibitor ore first."

"Then how long will it take then?"

"I don't know." He shrugged, "Maybe a day?" He saw the boy let out a groan and mutter something about needing to be home before it got dark and that it took a half hour to get through the woods. "Hey you can go on home and I can stay here. There isn't anything we can do but wait anyway."

The boy looked happy to hear that, "Thanks Lloyd, you won't forget to give it to Marble right?"

"I won't." He said looking back over to the gravestone at the back of the house. Genis saw the distracted look on his face.

"Lloyd, you've looked a little off since you saw that grave, what's wrong?" The older teenager didn't give an answer.

"It nothing, don't worry about it." He looked at Genis who had a look on his face that told him he knew he was lying.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, okay, yeesh you don't have to yell." Genis seemed more offended than scared, it was obvious that he was just trying to make conversation and he didn't expect such a negative reaction. Lloyd shifted his weight slightly and looked down at the ground.

"It's just a delicate subject." He told him, if there was anything that he had said that day that was the truth, that was it. He and his father rarely talked about what happened to his mother and how he came to be raised by Cruxis after he got passed a certain age. Partially it was because the questions Lloyd had, wandered into the back of his mind as the isolated life became routine. He also learned that emotional subjects and situations became harder to handle when you reached the point in the Angel transformation where you could no longer cry. "My mom was killed by the Desians."

He wasn't sure what caused him to say that, but he saw Genis' face changed from anger to sympathetic. "Oh, I'm sorry Lloyd."

"Don't be, it was a long time ago." He explained, "To be honest I don't even remember what she was like, and the only picture I have of her my dad has on him."

"W-where's your dad now?"

He guessed the stutter was from being worried he might be pushing too far into the 'mercenary's' personal life. "Not really sure, I haven't seen him in weeks." He lied. "We rarely work on the same jobs and I've been allowed to travel on my own for a year now."

"You ever miss him?"

"Of course." He looked up and noticed that the sun was setting, "You should probably be getting home, I'll stick around and meet you back at the village later."

"Oh right, see you tomorrow then."

_Iselia_

Genis arrived back at the village just as the sun was disappearing under the trees and went straight to his house. Raine was home and packing for the trip, "Ah Genis there you are, the guards told me you and that Lloyd figure left for the woods."

"Yeah we went to see Dirk." He told her, "I guess I should get started on dinner then." He made his way to the small stove and started heating some water. He decided to make Pasta because it was quick and easy to put together.

"The mayor told me that Lloyd had chosen for you to come along."

"Yeah, he said that I would get better at my magic through traveling."

"I see…" Raine zipped up her bag and put it by the door before taking some paper and writing down some stuff that Genis guessed was notes on the design of the Martel Temple. They two siblings were silent for awhile with the exception of the sound of boiling water before Raine spoke up again. "Genis."

"Yeah?"

"I want you to be cautious around Lloyd."

"What?" He wasn't very surprised to hear her say that because she was naturally a bit skeptical, though he still wanted a reason, "Why?"

"There's something about him that's a little off. Have you sensed it?"

"Well yeah, his mana is different from the other humans here in Iselia, but he also has an exsphere on him. Wouldn't that slightly alter his mana flow?"

"It's hard to say, but promise me you'll be careful around him. We don't know him very well and he seems rather guarded, the regeneration journey will probably be just business for him."

The silver haired half-elf nodded and started making the pasta. All he could do was hope Lloyd kept his promise to give Marble her key crest, and of course that he'd show up on time the next day. He seemed nice enough, what could go wrong?

_**End Chapter Five**_

What could possibly go wrong? He's just a mysterious mercenary you don't know anything about after all. Who knows, he could be friendly.

I wanted to add more to this chapter, but anything I came up with felt like it was just tacked on for no reason, plus I'm in College now (class begins this Monday) so I don't have much time anymore, which may also explain any errors I have in this chapter. I'll try to keep updating weekly, but bi-weekly might be more likely. Next up, we hit the Triet Desert!

Also I never figured this out…what was Rodyle hoping to accomplish by destroying the Tower of Salvation? In all my eight playthroughs I've yet to figure it out.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Six: Beginning of a Journey**_

_Iselia_

The day was bright and the light wind blew some of Colette's hair into her face as she, Genis and Raine waited outside for Lloyd to return from the woods. She looked at her teacher and best friend trying to read their expressions; she couldn't tell what her professor was thinking but it was obvious from Genis' fidgeting that he was getting impatient. He hadn't said to her where Lloyd went, only that he'd be back in the morning.

It was a few minutes later when she saw the red and black dressed teenager coming out of the woods, running over and waving his hand. "Lloyd!"

He joined them, giving an acknowledging nod to her and Raine before taking something out of his pocket and giving it to Genis. The younger boys eyes widened as did Raine's when she saw the item. "This is…"

"Found it near the ranch." Lloyd lied. "Thought you might want to use it, Genis."

"Me?" The boy's face was a mix of shock and excitement.

"Hold on." Raine spoke up eyeing the sphere suspiciously, "Genis, let me take a look at it first." Before the boy could protest she swiped it from him and began to examine it with an eye much like what she had had at the Martel temple. This time though rather than being frighteningly excited, she was inspecting it for anything that would appear harmful. Lloyd couldn't blame her, being the older sibling and all, but they didn't have the time to do such trivial things. Fortuanetely she seemed to be satisfied –or maybe it was dissapointed – with the exsphere's lack of anything suspicious and handed it back to Genis. "Well it seems safe, so go ahead and use it. Lloyd I trust you'll show Genis how to _properly_ attach this thing."

"Uh, yeah…no problem." The stern look the half-elf gave him practically rival his fathers. To save time Lloyd simply attached the exsphere himself and then told him he'd show him how to safely attach and remove it later that day. Colette cheerfully led the way as Lloyd trailed them from behind a small smirk on his face as he watched Marble's exsphere shine faintly from Genis' hand.

'_I wonder how he'll react if he finds out whose life was taken by that exsphere.' _Better yet, how long would it take for Genis to figure it out?

* * *

Though Lloyd couldn't actually feel the heat, the sweat that still poured down his face, as well as the reactions from the other three, gave him the idea that the Triet Desert was very hot. The large orange-brown land was the home of poisonous snakes and scorpions as well as thieves looking for weary and sun burnt travelers that had there guards down from the scorching heat. They were hoping to get to the small village in the middle of the desert before it got dark; while the desert was a lot cooler at night and the monsters less active, an oblivious traveler was more likely to get ambushed by thieves. Lloyd had assured Raine that even if they dodn't get there by nightfall that he could protect Colette, but the teacher seemed determined to get to their destination on time.

"You alright Genis?" He called behind him noticing that the smaller boy was having trouble keeping up in the warm climate.

"Yeah. It's just so hot."

"It's a desert."

"I know that." The half-elf responded his eyes going up and down Lloyds clothing, "With what you're wearing I'm surprised you haven't passed out yet."

Lloyd looked at him with a blank face before looking down at his longsleeve red shirt and heavy black pants. The half-elf had a point; if he was a normal person he probably would have gotten heat stroke by now. He was grateful that all his pain receptors were now blocked by the Cruxis Crystal. "I'm just so used to traveling that it doesn't bother me that much anymore." He told him.

"Doesn't mean you should still be careful." Genis said trying to sound like he didn't care; talking seemed to be giving him more energy by taking his mind off the heat. "And I'm telling you this now because I know Raine's going to chastise you when we get to the village. Trust me, she does it to everyone."

"I can hear you Genis." The smaller boy winced when he saw his older sister look behind toward them. Lloyd couldn't help himself and let out a small snicker.

"So where is this first seal anyway?" He decided to ask, he wasn't sure where the seals were exactly. He had a rough idea from what his father had said. The first seal was in the ancient city that was said to have been destroyed when Efreet went out of control. Unfortunately he had failed to tell him where that ancient city was. _'Thanks dad…'_

"The first seal is where Efreet is said to have lost control during one of the previous chosen's journeys." Raine told him. "But that place is only known to the people who live in the Triet desert."

"Oh." The angel just said and looked down in a random direction. In the distance all he could see was sand being kicked up by the wind; a sandstorm probably. Though something in the middle of hte storm caught his eye. Some kind of large blue building, it reminded him of the Desian Ranches, but it looked like it was designed to stay hidden than stick out like the Ranches would. The Desians' didn't have a Ranch set up in the Triet desert, the weather was too overbearing on prisoners to properly harvest exspheres. The few prisoners that were taken from Triet went to either Iselia or Palmacosta. "_Renegades…" _It seemed like the only other possibility.

"Look!" Colette's chirpy voice cut through his thoughts like a sharp knife. Even when exhausted from crossing the desert she still seemed to have enough energy to shout. He looked over to see why; there was what appeared to be a small village in the middle of the desert. "Professor we made it!"

They reached the small town by sunset, by then Colette and Genis had lost what little energy they had left. Raine left Lloyd to take them to the inn, giving him some money to get rooms, and left to question the villagers for the location of Efreet's seal. The three went inside and got two rooms, the professor returned when it got dark and told them where they would be going early the next morning to beat the scorcing sun. As Genis slept in the same room, Lloyd stared out at the desert. Being an Angel he was wide awake and didn't feel any fatigue from being in the desert. He had a feeling that nights in Sylvarant were going to be incredibly boring.

Quietly the Angel left the room and made his way outside, the sky was clear and the stars were twinkling. He had to admit, the lack of trees in the desert made the whole sky glow and the sand under his feet now appearred a blue green color. He suddenly felt like he wasn't the only person outside; quietly he reached for his right sword. He spun around quickly unsheathing it; the girl who had snuck up behind him gave a startled cry and fell over on the ground. He relaxed lower his sword giving the girl a weird look. "Colette?"

She gave a soft groan as she stood up, "Ow, that one hurt." She said dusting herself off. "I'm sorry, did I startle you?"

"I almost cut your head off," He pointed out casually keeping the sword in his hand, "Shouldn't I be the one apologizing? And by the way, it's not a good idea to approach a swordsman, or anyone with a weapon, from behind in an area like this."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

It was Lloyd's turn to groan as the words left her. "You don't have to – forget it." There's was no point in telling her she didn't have to apologize; something deep down was telling him she'd just apologize again. He decided to turn the conversation to something else, "Shouldn't you be asleep? We're leaving tomorrow morning for the seal of fire."

"I know, I guess I'm so excited I couldn't sleep. I thought going out for some fresh air would help, and I saw you heading out." She moved her arms behind her and tilted her head to the side, "You couldn't sleep either?"

"Something like that I guess. I've never been this far into the Triet desert before so seeing were we're going is kinda exciting." Of course he'd never actually been to the desert before now, so it was only half true. He wanted to get to the seal because it would begin Colette's transformation and the sooner this was done, the better. He had to admit though that at night the desert wasn't too bad and he said it to the blonde girl standing next to him.

"Yeah, when it's not boiling hot this place is really nice." She paused then considered thoughtfully, "I wonder why this desert gets so little rain if it's so close to Iselia. The professor says that this place is influenced by Efreets power so you'd think Iselia would be too."

"Maybe it's not close enough."

"Maybe, though now that I think about it, it might explain the warm summers we have and no snow in the winter." The Chosen gave a giggle that would probably be contagious if anyone besides him was with her. He gave a shrug as though giving it some thought but no really caring.

"You'd better head back inside Colette; we have an early start tomorrow remember?"

"I'd like to stay out here for a while longer."

"Colette, go back inside." He said in a more commanding voice.

"Okay…" The girl gave a small pout; Lloyd guessed she wanted to spend more time with him, or was annoyed that she was being ordered around by somewhere who was close to her age. "Hey Lloyd?"

"What?" He asked slightly annoyed now. Colette didn't say anything looking at her with her big blue eyes before closing them and shaking her head.

"Nothing, never mind." She spoke in a less chipper manner, "Well good night." Lloyd watched her as she ran back into the hotel. He scowled as he looked back up at the door, a scowl which relaxed into a more neutral position. It didn't matter, she'd probably forget about it in the morning.

He changed his focus to something else and climbed onto the wall of the wall of the small village. Unfortunately for him an oddly placed mountain – or was it an over sized rock? He wasn't sure – kept him from being able to see the blue construct that he had seen while in the desert earlier. No light were on as far as he could tell either._ 'What exactly were the Renagades up to?'_ He thought to himself; Yuan was supposed to be dealing with them, but it was so tempting for him to run, or fly, over there and break in himself. Shame that most of the Renegades, as well as his companions were half-elves; they would sense him before he even got within a mile of the facility.

It would have to another time then. The Angel jumped down from the wall and started back to the hotel. Aside from the stars there was nothing else out here of interest until they got to the fire seal.

_**End Chapter Six**_

I'm going the OVAs route and skipping the Renagade base to get to the Ossa trail faster. Would have had this up sooner, but College has been taking a lot out of my time, and I have a paper in my Religion class I'm supposed to be working on (hence any errors in this chapter, along with my probably my usual mistake of mispelling Iselia/Isalia. I'm literally posting this thing minutes before my Pathway class). Guess it's off to the library later. I'm tossing around some ideas for two new fics, one being a Tales one, but with the busy schedule we'll just have to wait and see what happens :).

That's all see you later!


	7. Chapter 7

Oh my gosh, we have a fight scene in this chapter. Yay!

_**Chapter Seven: First Seal/First Angel**_

"This is Polycarbonate, a material used to absorb magic during the ancient war. Oh feel the smooth surface, it's wondrous!"

'_Not again…' _Lloyd watched in a mix of annoyance and disbelief at the half-elves' sudden fascination with the stone slab guarding the entrance to the seal of fire. He looked at Genis who was beat red and something told him it was not from the heat. "Does she always get like this?"

He groaned, "And I was trying so hard to hide it too." The Professor examined a small block of stone that was next to the Polycarbonate, much like an archeologist identifying it as possibly a part of the magic seal. Seemingly convinced, and rightfully so, that it had properties to detect the Chosen of Mana, she had Colette place her hand on the stone. Unsurprisingly the slab slid open revealing a staircase and the group of four climbed down the stairs.

The inside was like an underground temple. The walls appeared to be made of a similar material that the door was, but that could have been because they were black with ash. Lloyd looked around the place and saw that some pillars and even parts of the walls had had collapsed. The whole temple looked like it had been in ruin for centuries. "Ugh, it's hot." He heard Genis complain, the boy also had a disgusted look on his face. "And that smell, ugh."

"Given Efreets Mana, I wouldn't be surprised if this place was becoming an underground volcano." The Professor informed him while studying the blackened walls.

"Then there would be lava here right?" The blonde chosen asked.

"Most likely, so we should be cautious. Along with lava there could be monsters around here."

"Since it's a seal, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw monsters." Lloyd spoke up, "And something tells me they'll be aligned with fire." He looked around the three way path they walked towards and looked down the one on his left. "Let's go down there." He started going down, Genis and Raine giving him weird looks. He looked back at them and shrugged, "Better than standing around doing nothing."

Having no other ideas the three followed, their footsteps attracted nearby monsters which they managed to fend off with moderate difficulty. Lloyd hated the idea that he had to hold back since if he didn't need to the journey through the area would be so much easier. They entered through an opening in the temple like structure's wall to find themselves in a room that he guessed was very hot from the steam rising from the openings in the floor. The remaining parts of the floor looked like they could lead to the seal, but there were large gaps between them and they weren't all on the same level.

"Is the seal supposed to be up there?" Colette asked.

"Looks that way." Lloyd said walking around the area looking at the walls and ceiling for some kind of clue. Having studied the seals in both worlds, he knew there was some kind of puzzle they would have to solve. The problem was finding the puzzle and then figuring out how to solve it. He looked over and noticed that there was something hanging – or carved – into one of the red walls. It looked like one of those candle stands you'd see in the Church of Martel. There was a small amount of mana coming from it. "Colette, you still have the sorcerers ring right?"

"Yeah, why?" She asked him walking over to him.

"Think you can use it on that?"

"Sure." The blonde girl walked over and held the hand that had the ring on it to the orange stand. When she used it the small ball stayed in the holder. A noise was heard as one of the platforms near them rose up in the air. "Wow!"

"Amazing." He heard the Raine say, "The pillars are reacting to the fire from the sorcerers ring, perhaps because of the mana in the area." Lloyd started walking in the other direction as the professor wondered if there were anymore of candle stands in the temple. He already knew the answer, they just needed to find them.

The group exited the hallway going through the others paths to light the candle holders using the sorcerers ring. Any monsters that ambushed them Lloyd and Genis managed to fend off with Raine healing when necessary. Except the monster which they thought was a treasure chest; the Fake.

"Gee Lloyd, and I thought you could protect us from anything."

"Shut up, Genis…" The smaller boy seemed eternally amused that there was a monster that the 'mercenary' in front of him couldn't fight, much to Lloyds displeasure. _'If I could use magic I would have fried the thing in one hit.' _

The four continued navigating through the remaining parts of the temple, Lloyd keeping his thought to himself until the group reached warp point that they used to get to the top of the temple. The three looked around, aside from changes in coloring and size it reminded them a little of the Martel Temple. Raine had mentioned that the place seemed also to be composed of magitechnology; Lloyd himself wasn't sure if what she said was true but he could tell that there was a lot of mana in the area.

As they got closer the mana became visible welling up glowing a bright red color. The mana formed into a small red ball that exploded in a magnificent blinding light. When the light faded in it's place was a large red monster, much like one a four legged dinosaur with a flaming mane and spikes protruding form it's body.

"What is that?" Colette cried out obviously frightened by the sight of the creature.

"The guardian of this seal?" Raine guessed, "I suppose we have to defeat it in order for Colette to unlock the first seal, stay on guard." The half elf held her staff firmly in her arms as Colette stayed behind her. Lloyd took out his sword and looked at Genis.

"You know the basic water and ice spells right?" The boy gave a nervous nod, "Good, then while I distract it you hit it with those spells."

"What? Lloyd that's dangerous."

"Yeah I know," Lloyd told him taking his swords out and having a confident smirk on his face. Fights weren't very fun without a little danger. The angel swordsman ran at the creature which roared the spikes on its head flying off and into the air. He stopped and jumped away quickly before they could hit him going around the monster and striking its side with his sword. The monster let out a roar and swung its tail hitting Lloyd in the stomach and knocking him a few feet across the room.

'_Ugh, this might be harder than I thought.' _The guardian was stronger than he expected and he couldn't fight harder until they got further on their journey. He pushed himself back up to his feet as the monster released another barrage of spikes at him. He blocked most of them then dodged around the others to bring another strike to the monsters head. It recoiled back then slammed the side of its head into Lloyd's side. The boy slid on the ground before hitting the wall.

"Icicle!" Genis released his spell, small ice spikes rising up around the fire based monster. The monster retaliated by releasing a barrage of fire at the small boy. He quickly ran out of the way; Raine grabbed Colette's shirt to pull the girl out of the way of the continuing attack. She looked at her then at Lloyd who was getting back up again ready to take the monster on. Even from the other side of the room she could tell he was hurt from being thrown around. From the spikes on the monsters head, she guessed that its skull was harder than the average monsters.

"Icicle!" Genis cast another ice spell on the monster and Lloyd used the opportunity to jump onto the creature's tail then to its back. Spinning both swords in his hands he thrust them into the monsters back. The beast let out a loud cry as it starting moving around wildly.

"Don't like that, huh?" Lloyd taunted the monster hanging onto the swords as the monster flailed around. The boy smirked as the monster squirmed, before realizing that its body had tiny flames in it. His eyes widened and he pulled out one of the swords. The monsters body erupted in flames and it shook knocking the boy off of it. He landed hard on the ground and slowly tried to stand up. He might not have been able to feel pain but his body wouldn't respond like he wanted it to.

"Lloyd!" The boy heard Colette's voice and saw a white colored chakram fly across the room and hit the guardian beast in the head. The monster looked at her before getting hit by a water spell from Genis. Lloyd picked up the sword he managed to save from the fiery inferno and got away from the monster before its tail could hit him again.

"Lloyd, are you alright?" Colette asked as she and Raine came over to check on his condition.

"Yeah, thanks." Hearing his response the blonde chosen smiled and ran to help her friend. Lloyd looked back at the monster with a sour look as Raine used first aid on his wounds. One, maybe two powerful Ice Tornado spells would rip through that guardian in seconds, shame the spell was to advanced for Genis at the moment. They needed to take a more different approach, he couldn't keep cutting into the monsters skin, it was too tough. And he now only had one sword; cutting it's effectiveness in half. He watched as Genis used another ice spell on the monster then move out of the way to dodge a large fireball and Colette threw another one of her chakrams at the monsters horns cutting them off, only for them to grow back rapidly. She tried again and got the same results crying how it wasn't working. They couldn't keep this up and he knew it, he guessed Raine did to.

"Lloyd," The professor started, "I think I have an idea on how to stop that thing."

"Yeah, go ahead." He was out of any that might work.

As Raine told Lloyd her idea, Genis and Colette continued to fend the monster off. The clumsy girl was surprisingly less clumsy in the heat of battle by still much slower than her friend. The chakram she through from a distance hit the monsters sided where Lloyd had cut it earlier making it roar out as the fresh wound was irritated. "Colette, get back." Genis commanded her as he prepared another spell releasing it when she was out of the way. "Aqua Edge!" Small bits of water that looked like round blue saws surrounded Genis and then went right at the monster hitting him in the face and eyes. Though water was one of its weaknesses it only seemed to make the monster angrier.

"It's not working!" Colette cried out as the monster seemed unharmed by Genis' attack. She had been scared before when the monster first appeared, now she felt absolutely terrified. If she couldn't' even stop this monster than what good of a chosen would she be? She felt someone's hand grab her shoulder; she looked up and saw it was Lloyd.

"I've got an idea." He told her, "But I need Genis, stall that thing for me will you?"

She gave a slow nod and ran behind the monster using her chakram to hit its tail. The monster turned around as she ran to catch her flying weapon and through the other one clumsily missing as she stumbled a bit to grab the first one. As she regained her footing she could see Lloyd shouting something to Genis but couldn't understand what. She caught the next chakram and took a few steps backward as the guardian stared her down. Its black eyes flashed red for a moment as flames began forming in its mouth.

"Stalagmite!"Colette's eyes widened as brown colored mana appeared underneath the monster before turning into brown rocks that forced their way upward. The guardian was caught off guard and toppled over as the rocks rapidly went upward. She then saw Lloyd running toward the monster using the opportunity to attack the monster. He thrust his blade through its neck; the guardian gave a final cry before finally collapsing and disintegrating into red mana. Lloyd took a few breaths to relax and sheathed the sword before looking at the others. He had a large smile on his face.

"Well that wasn't so hard."

Genis looked like he was about to faint, whether it was from using too much mana or Lloyd's comment, no one was sure.

* * *

With the monster gone Colette was free to offer her prays to the altar. When she finished Remiel appeared again before her; the smug smile made Lloyd scowl.

"Colette, my dear daughter, you have done well." He spoke, a small bit of smugness slipping into his supposed to be sincere tone.

"Thank you…father." The blonde's voice shook as she called Remiel her father.

"The guardian of the seal has fallen and the first seal has been released. Efreet should awaken soon. In the name of Cruxis, I shall grant you the power of the angels."

"Thank you my lord." The blonde girl closed her eyes bowing her head as mana flowed around her entering her body. Her whole body glowed before pink energy began to flow from her back turning into a pair of pink angel wings. Genis and Raine stared in awe; Lloyd gave a small smirk. One seal had been released, only three more to go.

**_End Chapter Seven_**

College and _Princess Tutu _do not make good inspiration for Tales of Symphonia. Also if I got/get some terminology wrong as the story goes on it's because I haven't had the time to begin a new play though, I'm sort of going by some stuff that I see in Youtube playthroughs, the OVAs, and from my own memory. Only a month until _Dawn of the New World_ and _Sonic Unleashed_ :).

This is the first fight scene I've written June, so if it's sloppy I'll try and get my work back up to par. Also I know Lloyd might seem weaker than expected, but he's supposed to be holding back. Plus, my favorite character's tend to get beat up the most (except Prince Zuko on Avatar…who I tend to maul with slapstick humor). I'll make him beat the water guardian to a pulp, I must take revenge on it .


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter Eight: Would Be Assassin**_

Lloyd remembered when his father told him about the angel transformation; he had explained that it was a slow process where he would gradually lose his some of his senses, in exchange for wings and increased reflexes. As a result, when Colette had turned down one of Genis' meals, the angel had a good idea it was because she had now lost her ability to eat. Despite her refusal the young boy was still persistent even with his older sister telling him to leave Colette alone. "If she's not hungry, don't force her to eat." The healer told him.

"But-"

"Genis, leave her alone. Colette will eat when she's hungry."

"Okay. What about you Lloyd, aren't you hungry?" The silver haired boy asked him.

"No, not really." He answered. He was sitting further away from the group; they were huddled around a small makeshift fire that Genis had made, while he was lay against one of the cold ruins in the dark. He touched one of the more painful looking burns on his arm with his fingers – gloves discarded for the time being.

" Lloyd, don't do that." Raine told him, "You'll only make it worse and we don't need you getting an infection."

"Tch. Sorry."

"Come over here, you must be freezing."

"I'm fine here." He told her with a look and tone that said he wasn't going move.

"I insist Lloyd."

"I'm fine." He repeated in a much lower tone making it clear he was content where he was. Raine shook her head muttering under her breath that he was stubborn. He ignored it and stared up at the night sky, but still keeping his ears open to hear the group's conversation. There next destination was Palmacosta which was on the next continent. To get there they would either need to head north to Hima or take a boat from Izoold. He gave a light smile as Genis and Raine argued over which directions to go while Colette made feeble attempts to get them to stop.

* * *

The walk through the desert the next morning felt worse than the last two. First they needed to go back to Triet so Lloyd could get a new set of swords. He hated all the ones they had available, they were either to light to short or just not suited for dual wielding. Never before had the chosen and her companions see someone be so picky about their weapon choice. Then again when you used a weapon for so long it'd be hard to find a replacement, and the choices in Triet were of a rather low quality. Finally Lloyd picked out a pair and once he paid, the group stocked up on supplies for their journey through the desert. They stayed in Triet for the rest of the day and left on the next only stopping once to eat in a shaded area. Lloyd was starting to both hate the desert - there's only so long you can stand seeing mulitple shades of orange and brown - and having to spend time around the group at these points in time. He told Genis that he wasn't very hungry telling him he'd 'eat on his own time.' The younger boy didn't seem to like the answer but conceded anyway. The 'mercenary' could see Raine looking at him with a wary eye; if he didn't make himself seem more normal, he knew that the teacher would be on to him if she wasn't already.

After a few more hours the group finally got to the Ossa Trail. "Ugh, never thought we'd be out of that desert." He heard Genis remark the boy and Chosen sitting down on the wet grass and taking off his shoes to empty collected sand from them. "Sis, when we're done with this journey can we find a different way back to Iselia?"

"There's always the sea up north." The older sister said not noticing the look that crossed Lloyd's face; he knew they wouldn't be going back to Iselia anyway. "But I don't think there are any boats that would go around the continent. Lloyd do you know of any?"

"Huh?" The angel gave her a surprised look not really paying attention. "Oh, uh, none that I'm aware of." All the maps he'd seen of Sylvarant didn't show any other routes on the ground, and he didn't know of any boat routes.

"Then we'll just have to worry about it when the time comes. Genis come on, you too Colette."

"Aw, can't we stay and rest for a little while?" The younger boy protested. "Traveling through that desert was torture."

"My feet hurt, Professor." Colette spoke up, "And the trail looks like it's goes through a hill. Maybe we should wait awhile."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Lloyd said looking up at the top of the cliff.

"Why?" Colette asked getting to her feet.

"We have company." He told her before shouting up to whoever was hiding on the cliff, "No use hiding, we know your there." He waited for a moment and just when he knew one of the Chosen's companions was going to tell him he was imagining things, someone jumped out and landed on the path in front of them. It was a woman, a bit older than he was and wearing a lot of purple. He frowned as he looked over the clothes, purple kimono like top, dark purplish pants, light purple shoes that looked built for combat and a pink sash – finally something not purple – wrapped around her waist. If he hadn't seen it for his own eyes he wouldn't have believed it. Aside for the obvious obsession with purple, the dress was the same as an active Mizuho warrior. It would be fine to see one every once in awhile except for one problem. The people of Mizuho lived in Tethe'alla.

"How the heck did you know I was there?" The woman asked out loud a mix of both frusteration, but also surprise in her voice. Lloyd gave an uncaring shrug.

"Lucky guess." In other words, his enhanced hearing made it easier for him to tell when people rustled tree branches and in bushes. "Something we can help you with?" He asked, hoping this person was not from Mizuho and it was just a coincidence and were just someone who either needed assistance getting though the mountain or heading to the desert. Still the more he looked at her, the more he realized there was something familiar about her that he couldn't quite place.

"I'm looking for the Chosen of Mana. Have you seen him or her?" Somehow he didn't like the way she asked her question. Colette didn't seem to notice anything wrong though.

"Oh, that's me." If Lloyd had eyes on the back of his head he'd be glaring at her; she shouldn't have said that. The girl look on the girls face changed from relatively passive to hostile in a second.

"Then prepare to die." The warrior lunged at Colette before the rest of the group could react. The blonde girl startled stumbled backward tripping on a red lever. A hatch opened underneath the assassin and she fell into it. The group stared in disbelief at what happened before Colette let out a gasp and got up.

"Oh no," The blonde girl looked down the whole before letting out a light groan. "I did it again…" Lloyd shook his head in disbelief wondering how the blonde girl could still sound sympathetic to someone who just tried to kill her.

"You shouldn't worry about it." Raine said, "If you hadn't tripped you could have been killed."

"But…"

"Don't worry about it. She is you enemy." Lloyd told her. The blonde looked up, she still looked worried.

"I hope she's okay." He lightly slapped himself in the forehead to keep himself from slapping the girl. This girl had all the qualities of a good chosen; kind, caring and sympathetic of others. The exact opposite of Zelos. Lloyd looked back down the hole as Genis began explaining some kind of math problem, one he knew he'd have trouble following even if he paid attention. He was much more interested in why a girl from Mizuho was in Sylvarant. Even if he didn't fully understand what Genis was talking about he had a feeling that she was alive, just disoriented from the fall.

That meant she'd be back for them, "We should get going." He spoke suddenly looking up the trail. It was going to be a steep climb. "Whoever that was, she'll come for us on her own so it wouldn't be a good idea to stand around."

The four of them started up the mountain and it became very clear that footing on the path wasn't very good. The group slowly made their way up the mountain. Lloyd found himself taking care or most of the monsters, with Raine healing him on occasion. The few monsters that they were coming across were more powerful than the last; even so the angel knew he'd need to keep holding back until the rest of the party got stronger. The easy fights though were starting to make his mind wonder back to the Mizuho girl. He didn't need to wonder why she was in Sylvarant; Tethe'alla was undoubtedly enjoying its extended era of prosperity because of the previous chosen's death. The question was how did she get here? And why did she seem so familiar?

The group reached the top of the mountain where they stopped to rest. Lloyd told them that he was going to go a little further down to take care of monsters; when Genis asked him if he wanted lunch, he lied and said he had something already with him. He walked a little ways down the mountain then stopped to rest on a rock, relieved to be away from the group. He had to get away for a breather, but he could still hear them from a distance.

"He's so weird…" Sounded like Genis.

* * *

"He's so weird." The twelve year old mage spoke up. "I know it's rude to talk about someone behind their back, but I can't help it."

"Genis, just because he doesn't want to eat your cooking doesn't make him weird." Colette scolded him, "I'm sure that he just likes his meals prepared a certain way. Or maybe he's just uncomfortable eating around people being on the road by himself all the time."

"Not what I meant Colette." Genis told her.

"Then what?"

"I'm not sure; it's just something about him that seems off. His mana is really weird, and I noticed in our fight against the temple guardian that it seemed to move around strangely."

"Yes." Raine cut in, "At first I thought it was his exsphere, but even if exsphere's enhance healing arts, his burns shouldn't have healed as quickly as they did. Indeed there's something about our new friend that makes me wonder…"

"But he seems nice." Colette spoke up again, "I mean he's nice to me and he's nice to your Genis."

"True, he's certainly a lot friendlier than I'd think mercenaries are supposed to be. Of course he's practically your age Colette."

"Maybe, but be careful." Raine told them. She wanted to make sure her little brother and his friend were safe. Even as much as she didn't want to believe it, Lloyd's timing in Iselia seemed a little to coincidental for her liking. The fact his mana was different from an ordinary human's didn't help her opinions on him either.

* * *

'_So Raine is suspicious, the Chosen is oblivious and Genis doesn't know what to think.' _Even though he was mostly surrounded by half-elves, or half-elf angels, all his life, he always found himself surprised at how well they could sense mana. Guess he hadn't controlled his mana as well as he thought he had while fighting the monster in the Triet Ruins. Then again it did ruin his favorite swords. Lloyd groaned, he could already hear his father lecturing him on restraint again.

After 'eating' the group continued down the mountain until they reached its base. A large plank of wood keeping the mineshaft closed fell down surprising the group, minus Lloyd who already knew how persistent Mizuho people could be.

"W-wait." The assassin sounded out of breath.

"Wow, she actually caught up with us." Genis commented a mix of surprise and sarcasm in his voice. The assassin seemed flustered by the comment.

"Enough. Chosen, your life is mine!" This time Lloyd pulled out his swords and ran in front of Colette raising it up as the assassin tossed magic cards (or paper it was hard to tell) at her; a weapon foreign to the people of Sylvarant. The assassin faltered not expecting someone to react so fast, and took out another. Lloyd immediately charged forward and knocked the strange weapon out of her hand then tried to force her onto the ground. Instead she sprung backwards to get away from her, but before she could make another move the angel quickly ran over and pinned her against, one sword resting by his side, the other close to the Mizuho girls neck.

"What did you tell the chosen?" Lloyd asked a dark look on his face. The girl didn't answer, the assassins fearless attitude gone. "Well?" He pushed the sword closer making her cringe away. If she had any freedom to move he wouldn't be surprised if she retreated. Of course she didn't so she chose to avoid eye contact, probably thinking of some way out of her situation. "Well?" He repeated louder before stopping realizing exactly where he'd seen this assassin before.

"_Zelos you pervert, get out of my room." From the other end of the hallway he could hear a loud slapping sound along with a certain red head groan, and then laugh._

'_Sheena…'_

"Lloyd stop, don't hurt her." The angel mercenary heard Colette's pleading voice. "Please."

"You want me to let someone trying to kill you go?" He didn't quite understand the logic behind it.

"Please Lloyd!"

He was very tempted to say know, but complied and pulled his sword away from the assassin. "You're lucky…" He told her in a low voice that only she could hear. The assassin seemed to regain some of her nerve, as she quickly moved away from him to get some breathing room. She looked at Colette.

"You got off lucky Chosen, next time you dead." In a flash of smoke the girl was gone leaving the chosen's group by themselves.

"I…" The blonde girl speaking up brought everyone's attention to her. "I don't understand. If it's my job to regenerate the world, so why did she try to kill me?"

"Who knows." Lloyd shrugged pretending to be just as confused as they were. "For all we know someone might not want the regeneration to happen. Come one we can discuss this in the next town where we won't have to deal with monsters." They continued down to Izoold, Lloyd starting to hope that he'd meet up with his father sooner rather than later. He'd need to tell him that Tethe'alla had found a way to Sylvarant. They probably got help from the Renagade who already knew too much to comfort. Still of all the people to send, why Sheena?

_**End Chapter 8**_

Remember in an earlier chapter I established that Lloyd and Zelos already got along very well. Well, going by that I imagine he might be somewhat familiar with Sheena.

Got little writers block for this story, but it's cleared now so I'm back to writing (though I think this chapter came out bad, classes have gotten in the way of my proof reading and idea jar :/). Now question for people; I've been playing Dawn of the New World (and discovered that I can't catch monsters even to save my life -_-. How sad…) and noticed that while we know Emil's story, what about Lloyds? So I was thinking of writing a fic on what Lloyd is doing while Emil is off playing 'knight.' Let me know if I should and feel free to give suggestions on what to cover and all that.

Well that aside, please review. Thanks, Happy Thanksgiving, and adios (goes off to class).


	9. Chapter 9

*Is tired of staring at this chapter looking for errors she knows she should be able to find since she's a creative writing minor, but is unable to for some reason*

_**Chapter Nine: Friends? No Thanks**_

"Hey Lloyd, you coming in or what?" Hearing Genis' voice caused Lloyd to crack one of his eyes open. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were asleep."

He wasn't, he was just pretending. Weren't people supposed to leave you alone when you were pretending to sleep? "Don't worry about it." He told the younger half-elf. They were on a boat taking them from Izoold to Palmacosta, they only stayed for about a day and that was to argue with Raine about whether to follow Remiel's orders or go north on land to Luin. While the argument had been a waste of time, the results from it were pretty amusing, to him anyway. The half-elf teacher went into the cabin below and refused to even come up to look at the water, he got a chuckle out of seeing her blatantly obvious fear of water or boats. "You need something?"

"It's pretty cold out here, why not come inside." The half-elf suggested.

"I'm used to being out in the cold. It doesn't bother me." He told him, red eyes looking the boy over. The half-elf was already shaking because of the wind and water. "You on the other hand…"

"It's warm in Iselia because of the desert, it doesn't get this cool."

"Yeah, Colette told me." Lloyd frowned as the younger boy sat down next to him, "What are you doing?"

"If you aren't going in, I'm staying out here. Besides it's nice to have someone to talk to that's not my sister or Colette for one?"

"For once?"

"Oh, uh, nevermind." The small half-elf's face turned red. Lloyd had a feeling it was not from the cold, but because he was embarrassed by something. The first guess was being a half-elf, but because of the nearby ranch he doubted it was that. Against his better judgment, he told the boy to tell him what he was thinking. "I don't have a lot of friends in the village." Somehow he expected that and listened as Genis explained that people didn't really like him because of how smart he was, calling it ironic because he knew people liked associating with smart people, but if you were too smart you were ignored. "The only reason I'm friends with Colette is because we bumped into each other."

"Bumped in meaning she tripped and fell on top of you?" The mercenary asked getting a small laugh from the young half-elf.

"You know it's weird." The elf said calming down, making Lloyd look at him a little confused.

"What is?"

"You don't say a lot to us, but I always feel comfortable talking to you. I think we'd be pretty good friends."

If Lloyd was standing he probably would have fallen off the boat. "Whoa, why would you want to be friends with someone you barely know?"

"That's usually how making friends starts, besides I have this whole journey to get to know you." Lloyd let out a groan and looked at the wooden floor of the boat; this journey was going to take forever. If Raine being suspicious about him and Colette being, well, Colette, wasn't bad enough he now had someone who wanted to be his friend. He didn't need to make friends on this journey; the few people he knew, but rarely saw that were in Tethe'alla, were more than enough. Being nice to Genis back in Iselia was starting to turn out to have been a bad idea.

* * *

With Izoold being a small fishing village, Lloyd was actually surprised to find that Palmacosta was actually pretty large. Granted it wasn't as big as the cities in the flourishing world, but Sylvarant was called the declining world for a reason. They made their way out of the port area and started into town when Colette suddenly bumped into a woman making her drop a bottle of red liquid. Lloyd shook his head as he saw one of the woman's three friends begin yelling at her and the blonde Chosen begin apologizing; maybe he should just tie her to a chair and drag her around for the rest of the journey. He grabbed Colette's arm and started leading her in the opposite direction as she began to offer to replace the bottle, Genis and Raine following.

They stopped in the middle of the square. "Ow, Lloyd that hurts." At least now he was sure she still had her sense of feeling. He let go of her and she looked at him, her blue eyes showing she was both confused and a little hurt by his actions. "Why did you do that?"

"They aren't worth our time Chosen."

"But it's my fault that girl's drink got spilt."

"So? We can't spend all our time doing favors for people. We have something more important to take care of, like finding out where the next seal is."

"I have to admit, but Lloyd is right." Raine interjected, "We should focus on trying to find out where to find the next seal. I've heard that the church hear has records from Spiritua's journey; perhaps it can give us information on where it is."

"Spiritua? The first chosen or regeneration?"

"Yes," Colette answered Lloyd's question, "The priest should give us permission to look at the manuscript if we ask him." Raine told Genis and Lloyd to wait in front of the government building while they went to the church. The red and black clothed angel leaned against the wall and looked down at the half-elf that was looking at him with his arms crossed.

"You know that was pretty mean, what you said to Colette."

"She's too nice for her own good." Lloyd told him, voice making it clear that he really didn't care. That niceness was going to get her in a lot of trouble, he could just tell.

"True, but that's what I like about Colette, she always puts others before herself. She cares about others and is willing to do anything to help them." A fitting attitude for a human sacrifice. Lloyd didn't say anymore, he really didn't feel like arguing with the twelve year old half-elf and said twelve year old half-elf knew he wasn't going to get any response so he sat down and waited for his sister and friend to get back.

It didn't take long for them to come back with the news that Spiritua's book was supposed to be in the hands of the governor-general. Fortunately he was in the building so they could retrieve it from the government building. This was good, now they could find this next seal faster, but all the other ones too. Now if only they could avoid seeing Remiel then Lloyd would a very happy angel. Once inside and welcomed by governor general Dorr and his assistant director, a young man called Neil, Raine asked the governor-general Dorr for the scriptures with Genis explaining that they needed it for the regeneration journey; it suddenly became very quiet before Neil spoke up with a warning tone in his voice as he addressed Dorr.

"Governor…"

"I know." He told him before addressing the group with a tone as though he had been insulted, "The Chosen has already passed through here. How dare you defile that name! Guards seize them." Lloyd was already reaching for his sword to fight his way through the approaching guards when Colette stumbled backward startled, her wings coming out as she fell on the ground.

"Daddy, look, she has wings. She's like an angel." A cry from the governor's daughter game from behind the large table. Indeed the pink colored wings seemed to make everyone in the room stop in their tracks. The governor ordered his soldiers to return to their positions before readdressing the group.

"I apologize for my reaction; it seems you really are the chosen."

"Oh, it's alright." Colette said dusting off her long white dress-shirt. "Some people have said that I'm not very chosen like."

"Anyway," Lloyd started up before Colette could apologize for not seeming like a proper chosen, "You said a group claiming to be the Chosen's group already came here?"

"Yes, a group of four much like your own stopped by here minutes ago. We had heard rumors going around that the oracle had appeared in Iselia, so when a group came claiming to be the Chosen's group, naturally we believed them." Lloyd couldn't believe what he was hearing, apparently neither could Genis or Raine though the older half-elf looked more composed.

"Did you let these imposters see Spiritua's scriptures?"

The governor looked rather ashamed of himself as he tried to find an answer, "The imposter said that they wanted to have the book to assist them on their journey."

"So you just gave it to them?" Genis' outburst got the governor's attention and he confirmed what the smaller boy was asking. It didn't make him calm down, "Unbelievable, some people come by claiming to be the Chosen's group without any proof and you just give them what is probably the most important book out there. Do you use your eyes or are they just on your head for decoration?"

"I'm sorry…"

"I swear, you human's can be so-" _WHACK! _Lloyd and Colette shut their eyes as the professor smacked her little brother across the head, then brought her attention back to the governor as though the smaller boy's outburst had never happened.

"Are they any copies of Spiritua's manuscript?"

"No the church forbids the copying of the scripture in fear of one falling into the wrong hands." Lloyd had to keep himself from laughing at the irony of the situation.

"Well I suppose it doesn't matter now." Raine said, "We'll just need to go by the clues we get from our angel guide." She thanked the governor and the four left the building. Lloyd frowned as the group discussed there next course of action and Colette said that she wanted to find that woman they had bumped into earlier and repay her for the bottle she broke. The angel wanted to tell her it was a waste of time, but Raine told her they could since they needed to restock up on supplies anyway. They went to the nearest shop that had medical supplies. Lloyd looked at the sign and saw it was called '_Item Shop Marble',_ the name 'Marble' sounded familiar to him for some reason. He shook it off deciding that it wasn't anything for him to worry about, it was just a name after all.

When they got inside he was surprised to find one of the workers arguing with two customer. It wouldn't have been such a big deal if the costumers weren't Desian. Normally people feared the Desian's and did what they requested, or that's how it was supposed to be anyway. "Chocolat, that's enough, just give them what they want." Another, older woman told the younger. They both looked alike, long brown hair and brown eyes, so they were probably mother and daughter.

"But mom, these are the monsters that took grandma away. I'm not selling a single gel to these filthy Desian's until they bring her back."

One of the two Desian's didn't take that comment lightly and looked like he was going to strangle the girl only to be stopped by the other, more calm one. "Stop, we'll exceed our quota. We need permission from Lord Magnius to go over. Listen little lady, depending on Magnius' mood you may or may not keep that pretty head of yours."

"Just try me." The Desian's left the shop, ignoring the group and the girl, completely unfazed by the events that had just happened and the threat the Desian's gave her. The mother apologized to the group leaving them open to look around. Lloyd told them he'd be waiting outside for them to finish and left, going over to the nearby bridge to gaze out at the water as he mused at the girl's foolishness for speaking out. It would take those Desian's a few days to reach the ranch, but when they did, he was certain that Magnius would allow his underlings to execute that girl. He wouldn't be surprised if they even tried to burn down the city. He could hear some people nearby talking about how brave that Chocolat girl was for talking back to the Desian. That girl wasn't brave; she was an idiot that just gave the Desian's a free pass to cause destruction and chaos.

The other three left the store after what felt like a really long time, and at the professor's request started for the inn. She apparently wanted to spend the day plotting there course of action now that they didn't have Spiritua's scriptures to guide them. He looked at Colette and saw her holding a green container with some kind of red liquid in it. He rolled his eyes and shrugged as they started to the inn and saw the group they had run into just minutes ago arguing amongst themselves. Even as they spoke in hushed voices he could hear them arguing amongst themselves about where they should be going next. One of the girls wanted to leave the city as soon as they could. Another seemed to be interested in going to Asgard since they had gotten passes in exchange for a manuscript they got from the church.

A manuscript they got from the church. "Hey!" He called loudly to the four as he and the others approached them.

"You guys again, whatdoya want now?" One of the two guys, the taller of them, asked in a rude manner.

Colette was about to speak holding out the potion when Lloyd cut her off getting right to the point. "You guys said you sold a church manuscript, what was the script?"

"What are you talking about, we never-"

"Don't lie!" The angel demanded voice rising and very tempted to pull his sword on the boy trying his patients. "What was the script and who did you give it too?"

"Lloyd, you're causing a scene." Genis whispered, but he ignored the smaller boy and focused on the person in front him. While his friends seemed have gotten the hint to be afraid the one he was confronting was dense enough to miss it.

"Oh yeah, and what's a scrawny kid like you going to do if I don't?"

Lloyd glared at him then looked at the edge of the walkway; the pot city was nearly surrounded by water. He smirked and looked back at the man, "Can you swim?" He asked making the person confused, but he still hadn't seemed to get any hint.

"No, why?"

Lloyd grabbed the person and lifted him off the ground with little effort, "You have three seconds to learn."

_**End Chapter Nine**_

I think some of my hatred for those imposters leaked into Lloyd near the end there…

The only thing I hate about writing a Lloyd Cruxis story is that I feel like I'm putting more detail in than necessary for events that everyone should already know about. *shrug* Ah well. Finished this early thanks to Thanksgiving. Also finished DoTNW. Congrats Namco, you're the only company that's made a spin-off/sidestory to an RPG I liked that I willingly played through to the end. Time to get started on that other thing.

Also I've put an admittedly vague poll up for something Symphonia related. Please answer it. And review, don't forget to review :P I thank everyone who added my story to their favorites and alerts, but the reviews help me know how you guys feel about my story.


	10. Chapter 10

Oh dear me, is this what I think it is? Is it an update? By George it's an update! The tenth chapter ghost has finally disappeared. Come let us celebrate with cookies!

Seriously though, sorry for the hold up. The good news is I have written down all the new/old but modified ideas that I got in the past few weeks so hopefully this won't happen again…or at least for awhile. Also it's spring so New Hampshire doesn't have to worry about anymore ice storms.

_**Chapter Ten: Going in Ten Thousand Different Directions **_

_**and Winding Up Nowhere**_

Lloyd was incredibly grateful when night had finally fallen and Rain and Genis were asleep. He got up and quietly left the room heading down the stairs. Thinking inside the small room made him feel uneasy, he felt much more comfortable outside. Thanks to him they found out what happened to Spiritua's manuscript; those people sold it to some old man on Hokensia peak. What was his name again? Well it didn't matter anyway. All Lloyd knew for certain was that the trip to Hokensia was going to be a ridiculous detour that they didn't need to take.

He was also certain that a large bruise was going to cover his stomach for the next few days. After they had gotten inside the hotel Raine had berated him for his actions. Naturally he mouthed off…and got kicked in the stomach. At least he wouldn't feel sore thanks to his Cruxis Crystal.

"Ah! Go away!" Lloyd was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard Colette screaming down the hall. He quickly jumped down the stairs and pushed the door of Colette's door open.

"Colette!" No one was there, but Colette looked to him horrified running up to him, very happy to see him.

"Oh Lloyd, thank goodness."

"What happened?"

"I woke up and there was this weird person in my room standing over me and -"

She stopped as Lloyd made his way to the open window on the other side of her room. He leaned out and looked around. No one was in the area; no lights from surrounding houses were on either. Whoever came must have left in a hurry when Colette screamed. Why did she even have the window open in the first place? He closed it and looked back at her. "No one's here now." He told her, deciding not to ask why the blonde girl had the window open in the first place, and looked her over. She didn't seem to be hurt, but it was hard to tell from how thick her clothes were. "You alright?"

She nodded feeling relieved. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said face becoming red and she played with her fingers. "I think he ran away when I hit him."

Well that explained why no one was around. Colette's strength had to have started increasing by now thanks to the angel transformation. He gave a small chuckle finding it strangely amusing that a cute girl like Colette could push a grown man out the window with a small push.

His thoughts stopped like two trains colliding. Cute? "I'm going to go for a walk." He said hurriedly heading for the door.

"Oh, I'll come -"

"No." He told her. "Just go back to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow." He shut the door behind him not noticing the look the blonde girl was giving him. He went outside and promptly hit his head against the brick wall, for once wishing he could feel the pain that should be throbbing from his skull.

He just thought Colette was cute. He _thought_ Colette was _cute. _He shouldn't be thinking that; he shouldn't even be getting close to anyone in their little traveling party, _especially _not the Chosen. This was bad; very, very bad. He cursed under his breath as he turned around leaning against the wall trying to sort out his thoughts. Just because he thought - some who knows why - that the Chosen was cute, did not mean that he was actually attracted to her. Well it did, but not in ta romantic way, right? Right; the last thing he needed was to actually have _feelings_ for her.

* * *

"Lloyd you're foreheads all red." Lloyd stayed quiet looking out the window of the hotel as Genis stared at him. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Despite trying to sound convincing, Genis had his hands on his hips clearly unconvinced.

"Yeah right."

The angel side rubbing his red colored eyes as though pretending to wake himself up, "I went for a walk last night because I couldn't sleep, and tripped on the stairs when coming back in."

There was silence for awhile until Genis finally said, "If you say so…" Clearly Genis didn't believe him, but had figured out by now that it was a bad idea to press his mercenary 'acquaintance' any further then he wanted to be.

Once the group got there little belongings together, they met back with Colette – bright and cheery as always – and set out for Hokensia Peak. Lloyd could already feel the dread from the journey; Hokensia Peak was a week away from Palmacosta. A week long detour that they didn't need, but had no choice to take. It was either this or wander around aimlessly for the seals. Lloyd clenched his fist into a ball frustrated by the situation, realizing that because of his lack of experience in Sylvarant (to be precise none), he only had a vague idea where each seal would be.

"Lloyd, are you okay?"

The angel looked down at Colette upon hearing her voice. She was staring at him with a worried look across her face. "What?"

"You have a very scary look on your face." She said. Lloyd stared at her for several seconds before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Sorry, just thinking about something."

"Like what?"

Why was she always worrying about people?

"It's not important. Don't worry about it." He told her and quickly moved past her. He could feel her large blue eyes staring at his back. For some reason it made him restless.

The group stayed on the road for three days before stopping at the House of Salvation on the evening of the fourth day. When they rested for the night, Lloyd decided to go on the roof to watch the stars seeing as it was the only thing he could do aside from daydream. He waved off Genis' insistence to join them for dinner and later also noticed that Colette did the same thing. She looked worried.

They continued on the next morning and reached Hokensia two days later. Lloyd waited outside as the group talked to the man that lived in the building. He looked around at the people that were either on a pilgrimage or traveling. He listened as some people were talking about something going on in Palmacosta. The Desian's had gone back…he wasn't surprised; it was safe to assume that they got approval from Magnius to execute the woman who ran the shop that they had gone into earlier. Magnius always found an excuse to kill more people, the Grand Cardinal made a hobby out of it.

Lloyd stopped listening when the rest of the group came out; he raised an eyebrow when he saw that Raine looked flustered. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing!" The half-elf answered, a little too quickly, a little too loudly, and in a completely unconvincing tone. The three of them watched as she stormed off muttering under her breath about a 'perverted old man who had no decency in regards to women.' He then looked at Genis asking for an explanation.

He was glad to give one. "That greedy old man won't let us see the Spiritua's manuscript unless we get him a statue of the first Chosen. And even then he's only going to let Colette and my sister look at it." The half elf told the angel, "So we need to go all the way the House of Salvation and ask for the statue then come back here."

Lloyd could not believe his ears. "You've gotta be kidding me! You mean we wasted all our time getting here and now we have to backtrack?"

"Yeah."

If he could fly there then the situation would be much easier. However they were walking, making it two to three days to get back to the House of Salvation, and another two to three to get the statue back to the old man. Why was such a simple journey taking so long to accomplish?

"Um…" Colette spoke up then stopped when she saw Lloyd look at her. He urged her to continue, "While Genis was arguing with that man, I got a glimpse at one of the passages. It spoke of a seal in a place where hot water shoots up from the ground."

"Water shoots up from the ground?" Lloyd repeated thinking. "Like a geyser?"

"I think so…"

"The Thoda Geysers?" Genis asked. "They're the geysers on an island east of here. We'd have to go back to the House of Salvation to get on the right road, but we can take a boat there after and check it out."

"Sounds like fun!" The blonde girl said clapping her hands together. "Let's go."

* * *

The Spiritua Statue back at the House of Salvation turned out to be fake. Fortunately the priest there had explained that the statue was probably somewhere in the Thoda Geyser. Raine made a mental not that he said 'in' the geyser and not 'at' or 'around' the geyser before having to slap Genis over the head for mouthing off to the priest. After getting the information they needed and promising not to tell anyone that they Spiritua Statue was fake, the group started in the direction to the shore.

"We should be careful around here." Raine said as they went through the field. "The Palmacosta Ranch is somewhere around here."

"Probably in the nearby woods." Lloyd added, "It'd be the perfect hiding place for a large ranch." It was like stating the obvious, after all why would the Desian's have a ranch out in the open? Even the Iselia ranch was at least covered by the mountain.

They reached the docks in about a day and a half and went inside to pay for use of the boat. More specifically the wash tubs. Lloyd hadn't expected washtubs, but it only proved how dried up Sylvarant had become in its eight hundred years of decline.

"Um, excuse me." Lloyd looked up at the receptionist who Raine gave the money to use the wash tubs. She was staring at him with a curious look on her face. "I know this might sound strange, but could you move your hair over the right side of your face?"

He frowned mildly confused before doing what she asked, taking his hair on his head and pulling it down so it covered his left eye. The woman seemed pleased because she clapped her hands together. "I knew it, my eyes never lie. You look just like him!"

Lloyd let go of his hair, letting it spring back up as he stared at her, "Just like him? What do you mean?" He asked.

"Oh, someone who looked like you was just by here. Though he was taller, had different colored hair, and wore a lot of purple."

"That's my dad!" Lloyd's response was a lot louder and eager than it probably should have been. "Do you know where he went?"

"Yeah, he paid for a trip to the Geyser's a few days ago. Came back stayed a night and then went off somewhere else." She explained. Lloyd's hands dropped to his side as did his head to the ground. His dad had actually come to the Geyser's. He did say he'd meet Lloyd either at them or Asgard. No doubt he'd probably go there next.

Part of him wanted to just up and head in that direction right away, but first they had a seal to unlock. It shouldn't take too long. Hopefully…

* * *

My apologies if this chapter is horrible. With College and everything, I've been going through a string of events where I want to do something but can't get it as well as I wanted to and sometimes can't do it at all. I'm so swamped with stuff in my Russian Literature and Creative Writing classes that it's unbelievable. On the bright side I'm actually doing good in math for once…

The only _only_ reason I got this out was because I've been more focused on Tales of the Abyss lately thanks to the Anime (working on a Natalia costume for Anime Boston). So if Lloyd starts acting like Luke, or Kratos – if he ever shows up – like Jade, let me know. My memory of Symphonia is unfortunately failing on me. And no Wii this semester to play it on too. D=

Well I'm done making excuses and the like. Hope you liked, despite how much I didn't -_-


End file.
